Flying Blind No Longer "Even though the Captain can’t see outside his windscreen, his aircraft’s synthetic vision system (SVS) is giving him a “daylight view” of the airport and surrounding terrain. Synthetic vision systems were created by NASA and the U.S. Air Force back in the late 1970s to improve cockpit situational awareness, especially when operating in reduced visibility at low altitudes. ...The next short step forward will be a combined SVS/EVS system that will present richly detailed images not only on the instrument panel but also on the Heads Up Display, where they can be overlaid on the real-world view through the windscreen. " viaForbes

Dual-sided phone with LCD on one side, e-ink on the other "The LCD side is for watching movies and playing games, but the EPD one is for more than reading ebooks and news articles. ...E-ink displays don't need much power, so that side of the Yota Phone can stay on continously without killing battery life." viaTech Radar

Samsung Display sues LG over LCD patents, again "LG had modified the PLS switching technology by Samsung without permission, and named it "AH-IPS" technology for use in its small- and medium-sized LCD screens, Samsung wrote in its filing. It added the company had patented the PLS technology in November 1997 but LG "copied" it." viaZDNet

Applied Materials to Set Up Display Panel R&D Center in Taiwan "Industry executives estimated the R&D facility to provide a huge boost to Taiwan’s display-panel industry at a time when the island is obviously losing ground to South Korea in global display-panel market. Samsung has begun volume production of AMLED panels while Taiwan’s panel makers are still in early stage of the development of the next-generation display technology. " viaCENS

China company taps bioplastics for use in flat panel displays "At a small factory near Shanghai, Chinese-Canadian plastics entrepreneur Wayne Song believes he’s closing in on commercializing technology to use biocomposites to make such a display, by mixing nano-scale natural fibers with polycarbonate and other optical-grade plastics. ...If the work can be commercialized successfully, Song said it will create a plastic screen that is bendable and hard to break, potentially opening up many new applications. He said some electronics industry experts expect the plastic panels to replace glass over time." viaPlastics News

Electronics Recycling Asia: A Rare Procedure "Professor Li also pointed to attempts thus far to recover indium from LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. At the current price of indium, “you’re going to lose money if you recycle it,” Li said,” so this is not economically sound.”" viaRecycling Today

Samsung in 2013: expect an even bigger Note, but no 'unbreakable' Galaxy S IV "Speaking of screens, various news outlets have reported this week that next year's inevitable Galaxy S IV will have an "unbreakable" display, a fruit of Samsung's longtime effort to commercialize flexible AMOLEDs. The rumor appears to originate from Nicolas Gaudois, a UBS analyst quoted by Reuters. Don't expect such a screen on a Galaxy S model in 2013, though. "Flexible screens are still a while off," our source tells us." viaThe Verge

Plastic logic makes flexible displays a reality "UK-based Plastic Logic is the first company worldwide to have fully industrialised a process for manufacturing plastic displays. The resulting colour and monochrome displays are available in both small and large sizes. The integration of this new display technology in applications and end-devices is not only leading to innovative product concepts, but moreover is beginning to drive a display revolution in consumer electronics." viaThe Telegraph

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Australia paves way for cockpit tablets "The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has released an advisory on electronic flight bags, paving the way for greater use of tablet devices by Australian pilots. ..."A device being used as an electronic flight bag needs to be able to display information in a comparable way to the paper aeronautical charts and documents it is replacing," CASA said in a statement today. "Devices should be large enough to allow images to be shown without excessive scrolling. Smart phones, for example, are not appropriate as the screen is too small."" viaitnews

Digital Signage Supplier Planar Sheds Itself Of Another Business "Planar, the first U.S.-based electroluminescent (EL) display manufacturer, is getting out of the business. ...The move is part of Planar’s strategy to shed itself of non-core businesses to sharpen its focus on digital signage, company officials have said." viaConsumer Electronics Daily

In the face of new technology, how long will the boom last for China’s producers of flat-panel LCD screens? ""Japanese companies are making money" on Chinese screen-maker sales "because core components for making a panel are mainly produced in Japan," said Liu Dan, a vice president at BOE. "If a company invests US$ 4 billion to build an eight-generation (50 inches and over) panel production line, half of the investment will be used to buy equipment from (Japanese manufacturer) Canon," he said." viaCaixin Online

Lenovo exec: We didn't realize how big touch would be "The industry did underestimate touchscreen demand, he admitted. But people are still buying PCs -- at least from Lenovo. In addition, sales of premium-priced computers are growing faster than other PC segments, he said. ..."As you go through any major architectural transition, you try to forecast accurately how much the attach rate will be on touch [or other features]," he said. "Across every major [shift] over the past 10 years, we're never right. The learning is, how do you respond to that? How does the industry change and evolve?"" viaCNET

Is Heads Up Display just what the doctor ordered? "For starters, the HUD is not cybernetically attached to the eye. Instead, the HUD is a headset, currently in the prototype phase, that the ER physicians would wear during their shifts. Made by the semiconductor company Kopin, the HUD, called Golden-i, delivers information via a single tiny projection screen that rests just below the eye. That’s an important detail: the HUD’s screen is not a true display. Rather, it’s a mini-projector that beams the image onto the user’s retina." viaDot Med News

Efficient OLED gets rid of heavy metals "The lack of heavy atoms in the molecule means it might be cheaper to produce than phosphorescent OLEDs containing iridium or platinum, says Z. Valy Vardeny, at the University of Utah. ...But building a molecule doesn’t necessarily mean it will find its way into device production, writes Brian D’Andrade of Exponent, Inc., in an accompanying commentary. To be useful in production, these molecules need to be optimized to emit colors of light needed in displays, they need to be able to be manufactured into devices, and the lifetime of those devices needs to be comparable—or better than—the state-of the art, he writes." viaArs Technica

Aspen Avionics Multifunction Displays "A new Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin advises owners and operators of Aspen Avionics EFD1000 and EFD500 Multifunction Displays (MFD) of an unintentional reset occurring in certain display modes when there are a large number of Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). At this time, this airworthiness concern has not been determined to be an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 39." viaHelicoptor Association International

Raytheon increases pilot situational awareness with Aviation Warrior wearable computer, monocle display "The Raytheon Center Display Unit, which allows militaries to replace the analog instruments in their F-16s and helicopters with a new, flat-screen digital display. The richer data stream can then be sent directly to the pilot’s helmet. The Aviation Warrior wearable computer comes with a wrist-mounted screen, allowing pilots to see radar images, surveillance video, and maps even when on the ground." viaAvionics Intelligence

Taking a Second Look at LCD "OLED is beautiful. Stunning image. But I was an early skeptic, and said then, as I say now: the LCD panel has never been stronger in the market. It will continue to dominate the TV market. Any move to OLED or other platforms is years away– well beyond any need for a reevaluation of the market. And digital signage– there is no serious rival for traditional, low-cost display. But since then, there has been more OLED fever. You've all read it. But finally, even the mass media is realizing the hype was over-done." viaAVNetwork

Digital Advertising Carriers: LCD Television or LCD Monitor? "The young digital signage market has not settled on universal standards, and potential users of small-scale digital advertising networks have difficult and uninformed decisions to make. This article attempts to convince you why the choice should be made exclusively in favour of commercial LCD monitors, especially in situation when the required application is indoor or semi-indoor (for examples, on public transport stops) advertising network." viaScreens Magazine

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